Product Description

Windows are an integral part of the design and structure of a room. In his newest book, Window Dressings: Beautiful Draperies and Curtains for your Home, author Brian Coleman explores stunning window decor from Palm Beach to Seattle to New York, created by some of the country's most respected designers. Showcasing a wide variety of styles and decorating philosophies, Window Dressings reveals how to successfully create the right look for any window in the house.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34374 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 176 pages

From the Inside Flap
Window Dressings Beautiful Draperies and Curtains for your Home Brian Coleman Photographs by Bill Wright Windows are an integral part of the design and structure of a room. In Window Dressings: Beautiful Draperies and Curtains for Your Home, Brian Coleman explores stunning window decor from Palm Beach to Seattle to New York, created by some of the country's most respected designers. Showcasing a wide variety of styles and decorating philosophies, Window Dressings reveals how to successfully create the right look for any window in the house.
Featuring the work of renowned designers in locations including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, and Florida, there's are styles and colors to suit practically every taste. The importance of good curtain and draper construction is also discussed, with beautiful hand drawings helping to classify and identify specific details of many of the designs.
A comprehensive glossary helps explain terms from gimp to galloons that are often confusing, from gimp to galloons. And an extensive Resource Guide lists designers and window workrooms around the country.
Whether it's a traditional living room with a mullioned bay window, a formal dining room with French doors, or just a small bedroom with a single window tucked under the eaves, Window Dressings: Beautiful Draperies and Curtains for Your Home is the source of inspiration and practical advice that can help.
Brian D. Coleman, M.D., is a practicing psychiatrist in Seattle, Washington. Also an old-house enthusiast, he has grown his love for historic restoration into an active second career. He has written numerous articles on historic home design for magazines ranging from Old House Journal to Period Living in the United Kingdom and is the West Coast editor for Old House Interiors. Brian is the author of Extraordinary Interiors: Decorating with Architectural Salvage and Antiques, Detail: How to Decorate with Architectural Salvage and Antiques, Scalamandre: Luxurious Home Interiors, Classic Cottages, Vintage Victorian Textiles and The Victorian Dining Room. He divides his time between New York and Seattle.

About the Author
Brian D. Coleman, MD, divides his time between Seattle and New York. His articles have appeared in magazines ranging from Old House Journal, where he is the West Coast editor; to Period Living in the U.K. Brian is the author of seven books on the decorative arts, including the recent titles Farrow & Ball and Cottages.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Introduction
Whether it's a beckoning bay window in a traditional living room, symmetrically placed French doors opening off a formal dining room, or just a single window in a small bedroom tucked under the eaves, windows are an integral part of every room's structure and design. In Window Dressings we explore beautiful windows across the country, from Nashville to New York,Savannah to Seattle- by visiting designers who have created successful window treatments in a wide variety of styles and approaches.
Window Dressings offers ideas and inspiration for every style of decor. We have all been in beautiful rooms furnished in the best of taste, with fine furniture and accessories, except for the windows which have been left bare. Sounds echo and are amplified in rooms without textiles, especially those without curtains. Draperies are what make the difference, absorbing sound, finishing the room and making it complete.
Window treatments, in fact, perform many functions. A nicely designed drape helps soften the edges of a window, framing the view and incorporating it into the room's overall design. Take, for example, a large, breakfast room bay window overlooking a scenic river-- in Michigan. A simple scalloped valance constructed in a pale green cotton check and accented with a colorful tasseled fringe covers the top of the large window, tying it into the room while leaving the views intact. Or consider a sunny master bedroom overlooking a golf course in Richmond, Virginia. Bright, floral cotton panels at the windows in pinks, blues and greens turn the room into a cheerful bower and help bring the vistas of the lush outdoor gardens and greenery inside.
Window treatments set the tone for a room, whether it's formal and elegant, warm and welcoming, or casual and comfortable. On the formal side, we travel to Chicago to visit an elegant town home on the Gold Coast, home of celebrity Marilyn Miglin; its beautiful interiors are accented by classic curtains of cream silk damask that hang beneath silk valances of festoons and cascades. The elegant formality is repeated in the dressing room, where swags of soft gray silk damask over the windows are reflected in the wall mirrors lining the long, opulent room.

Customer Reviews

Absolutely beautiful!
I own many window treatment books, and this is one of my top favorites. It is definitely full of high-end draperies with an up-to-date look. I actually know one of the professional seamstresses and everything she does is to perfection! I bought it on the recommendation of someone else and couldn't have been happier. Lots of gorgeous fabrics dripping with the best of tassels and trims. You won't be disappointed!

Just not what I was looking for
Although, the photography is lovely, I was hoping for a more diverse array of styles. The styles represented a lot of "East Coast" looking window treatments that are quite lovely and "fussy" but not styles that work well in my part of the country with high ceilings and less historical architecture.

Tracy Fuller

Beautuful book!
Really lovely examples of window treatments from various locations in the country, from the simple to the ornate. Plus, a dictionary of terms and a list of sources.